Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

After gold shipments from a mining town have been hijacked, the three Mesquiteers buy a plane to fly the gold out. The owner of the shipping line brings in Eastern gangsters to thwart them.

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

William Colt MacDonald (characters), Bernard McConville (story)

Stars:

John Wayne, Louise Brooks, Ray Corrigan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Wayne	...	Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan	...	Tucson Smith
Max Terhune	...	Lullaby Joslin
Louise Brooks	...	Beth Hoyt
Anthony Marsh	...	Ned Hoyt
John Archer	...	Bob Whitney (as Ralph Bowman)
Gordon Hart	...	W. T.Mullins
Roy James	...	Dave Harmon
Olin Francis	...	Jake - Henchman
Fern Emmett	...	Ma Hawkins
Henry Otho	...	Sheriff Mason
George Sherwood	...	Clanton - Henchman
Arch Hall Sr.	...	Joe Waddell (as Archie Hall)
Frank LaRue	...	Hank Milton (as Frank La Rue)

Storyline

With the stage being held up regularly, the Mesquiteers decide an airplane would be better so they get the ranchers to sell their cattle and invest in the new airline. But when a gold shipment goes out, the stage line owner has his men hijack the plane. The pilot discharges the gas causing a forced landing and the Mesquiteers must now find the missing plane and recover the gold.

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Plot Keywords:

modern west | three mesquiteers | cowboy in tight pants | cowboy cowboy relationship | cowboy horse relationship | 

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bandidos Encobertos

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

55 min 54 min (Western Channel print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final film of Louise Brooks. NOTE: Contrary to popular belief, this was not intended to be her "comeback" film; she made it because she needed the money. She was paid $300 (equal to $5180, adjusted for inflation in 2017) for the film. Not long after it was released, she was found working as a salesgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue at a salary of $40 (equivelant to $690 in '17) a week. Brooks later referred to Wayne as "a purely beautiful being."

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Quotes

[first lines]
[reading a reward poster]
First Bandit: One thousand dollars. I guess we ain't worth much to the Oro Grande Company.
Second Bandit: That ain't no decent reward for a self-respecting bandit. What do you say we send Harmon a donation to boost the ante?
First Bandit: Maybe I will - after we polish off the three o'clock stage!

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Connections

Follows Range Defenders (1937)

User Reviews

The story behind the film alone is worth the viewing

_Overland Stage Raiders_ marks the convergence of two great performers, one on her way out of film, the other about to begin the most successful run in film history. Louise Brooks, star of G.W. Papst's erotic masterpiece _Pandora's Box_, makes her last appearance in this run-of-the-mill, twentieth-century entry in the "Three Mesqueeters" series. Though the plot is a preposterous hodgepodge involving the opening of air freight service to an isolated cattle town, Brooks is ever the stunner next to John Wayne, who was still a year away from A-line box office success in _Stagecoach_.

I recommend this film for three reasons:

1. The sheer curiousity value. The greatest western actor opposite the greatest actress in the history of German Expressionism while he was on his way up and she was on her way out. They met in obscurity and went on to immortality.

2. The chance to see the raw potential of John Wayne before his work with John Ford. The presence, the charisma, and the physicality that would make him a colossus are all here. Under a competent directior, these would bloom from reliable entertainment into art.

3. Everyone should see a "Three Mesqueeters" movie. This is probably the best series of the 1930s "poverty row" films, and it is a pure joy to see the workmanlike love put into these programmers. They aren't auteur classics, but for many viewers in the period, they were what movies were all about.